


told before and told again

by Gohandinhand



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 05:35:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18025697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gohandinhand/pseuds/Gohandinhand
Summary: “What a nice girl,” Helen says to her second cousin with a wistful smile, watching Stacie as she walks away.“Aubrey is so lucky to have such a nice friend,” Laura agrees. “I mean, flying all the way down from New York to attend the wedding with her since Aubrey doesn’t have a nice boy to be her plus one?”“And she came to support Aubrey during Aunt Betty’s funeral last year, do you remember?”“That’s right!” Laura gasps. “Oh, it’s a shame Aubrey can’t find a boy as sweet as that.”





	told before and told again

Stacie’s trying to squeeze past a knot of Aubrey’s relatives when she’s spotted yet again, the shout of her name stopping her in her tracks.  

“Hi, Aunt Helen!” Stacie’s greeting is cheerful and she steps forward into the offered hug without hesitation.

“I didn’t know you’d be coming all the way down for this!” Aunt Helen looks her over, brushing some hair off her shoulder and smoothing her dress. She’s the fifth aunt in a row to do exactly that and Stacie doesn’t even attempt to hide a grin at the older woman’s quintessentially southern fussing over her.  

“Kelly had the good sense to plan this over our spring break,” Stacie quips, and the mention is enough to sidetrack Aunt Helen into inquiring about this semester’s students.  

Aubrey’s relatives have always adored anecdotes about her students and soon enough, a small group has gathered to hear about the student who taped a penny to his midterm as a bribe for leniency on one of the questions.  

“I feel like I have my own reception line here,” Stacie jokes, instinctively seeking out Aubrey where she’s standing in the actual reception line. Aubrey’s head is thrown back in a laugh, her hair tumbling loose down her back and Stacie’s expression softens at Aubrey’s unrestrained joy.

“Except you don’t have any free hands to shake with!”

The joke is from one of the younger cousins, just old enough that she’s starting to socialize with the adults instead of the other kids, and Stacie frowns distractedly down at her arms as she struggles to place the girl. She dredges up the name at the same moment she processes Charlotte’s joke.

“Yeah, I always seem to turn into the pack horse,” Stacie says ruefully, stares down at the load of stuff in her arms -- mostly Aubrey’s "necessities" for the rest of the evening. Aunt Helen distracted her as she had been heading towards their seats at the head table to unload it and Stacie excuses herself with a grin and a promise to continue the stories later.

 

* * *

“What a nice girl,” Helen says to her second cousin with a wistful smile, watching Stacie as she walks away.

“Aubrey is so lucky to have such a nice friend,” Laura agrees. “I mean, flying all the way down from New York to attend the wedding with her since Aubrey doesn’t have a nice boy to be her plus one?”

“And she came to support Aubrey during Aunt Betty’s funeral last year, do you remember?”

“That’s right!” Laura gasps. “Oh, it’s a shame Aubrey can’t find a boy as sweet as that.”

Charlotte’s eyes narrow as they trace Stacie’s course to the head table.

 

* * *

 

Stacie intercepts Aubrey’s path to her chair, Aubrey halting at the gentle touch to her arm with a soft groan.

“Stacie, these heels are killing me, can we please sit down?” Aubrey pleads. Stacie is gazing the opposite direction, gives no sign of hearing her plea and Aubrey rolls her eyes but waits anyway.

“We need a new picture. For your office,” Stacie’s eyes narrow as they fix on the perfect spot. “There!” She doesn’t wait for a response, just grabs a hand and starts dragging.

“Stace, do we have to do this right now? I want to rest my feet, and my food will be co--”

“Yes, because if we don’t you’ll come up with excuses to put it off the rest of the night,” Stacie is unapologetic about her mission.

Aubrey frowns. “Would that really be so bad?”  

“Did the new guy in your office start hitting on me because the current picture is so outdated he ‘didn’t recognize me as your partner’ when I dropped in with lunch last week?” Stacie’s question is clearly rhetorical, Aubrey’s nose scrunching up as she recalls the awkward situation.  

She concedes the point silently, letting Stacie drag her over to the photo wall.

 

* * *

 

"Oh, Louise, look at them!"

Up at the head table, Stacie gently cups Aubrey’s face in her palm as she sweeps her thumb across the stray crumbs on the corner of Aubrey’s mouth.

"They're so sweet."

"They’re always looking after each other, aren’t they?" Great-Aunt Astrid croons.

"I wish I had a friend like that!"

“Well, that Stacie sure is the perfect choice to fill in while Aubrey looks for the right boy.”

 

* * *

 

Stacie’s face is inches from Aubrey’s, carefully reapplying some of the makeup that’s worse for wear after a whole day of bridesmaid duties, when the bathroom door slams open with a loud bang.

“Thank you for having reflexes of steel,” Aubrey murmurs after Stacie barely flinches, trying not to move her face as Stacie carefully retraces her eyeliner, tongue poking out in concentration.

“My beautiful blooming violets!” Kelly dramatically announces, her maid of honor following with an eyeroll.

“That’s not the right saying, Kelly. How much have you had to drink?” Stacie isn’t deterred from her task as she teases, finishing the eyeliner before looking up.

“Oh, maybe too much,” Kelly’s eyes suddenly go wide. “Bree, my love, my favorite cousin, basically my sister--”

“Do you need me to help you pee again?”

“Yes, please.”

Aubrey laughs, plants an off-kilter kiss on the corner of Stacie’s mouth quickly in thanks, then helps Jules shepherd the tipsy bride into the largest stall.

“I’m not drunk,” Kelly suddenly announces loudly as Aubrey and Jules work together to wrangle the unwieldy dress.

Stacie knows Kelly can’t see her, perched out here next to the bathroom sink, but that doesn’t stop her smirk.

“Sure, Kel. It’s okay, you’re allowed to be,” Stacie teases.

“Okay, I might be a little tipsy, and I do deserve it,” Kelly allows. “But that’s not the point. The violets are the point.”

“Jesus, Kelly, would you sit down already,” Aubrey’s exasperated voice cuts in. There’s some rustling before Kelly continues, undeterred.

“I wasn’t botching ‘shrinking violets,’ Stacie Conrad! Just because we’re not all physics geniuses doesn’t mean we don’t know things!” Kelly, suddenly indignant, pauses to flush the toilet and Stacie takes advantage of the noise to let out a quick full-bellied laugh.

“She found out about my violet tattoo while we were changing today,” Aubrey leaves the other two in the stall, gently hip-checks Stacie out of the way so she can wash her hands.

“I’m suddenly understanding why there were two stray violets at our seats,” Stacie says dryly. “This is what you chose to spend your energy on, Kel? Today of all days?”

“Of course not, she made me deal with it,” Jules smirks as they follow Aubrey out.

Kelly shrugs shamelessly.

“I knew nothing about it,” Aubrey intones when Stacie looks at her. Stacie draws her into her arms with a hum, kisses the crown of her head.

“I knew there was a reason you’re my favorite.”

“Yeah, because I’m off the market!” Kelly jokes, holds her left hand out with a flourish.

“Yeah, I’m devastated you got to Matt before I did,” Stacie pretends to pout and Kelly gasps dramatically.

Aubrey cuts into the banter before the pair can wind each other up too much.

“She tried to convince me to work violets into my speech. As if that would mean anything to the Aunties,” Aubrey rolls her eyes before her expression slips back to a soft smile. Stacie smiles back, can’t help leaning in to give her a real kiss.

“Hey, you two know the rule,” Kelly says sternly as she finishes drying her hands.

There’s a pause, Stacie and Aubrey slowly drawing back to look at each other in confusion, turning as one to fix Kelly with a puzzled look.

“Um… no?” Aubrey finally says.

Kelly grins.

“Leave space for Jesus!”

She flees the bathroom while Aubrey pelts her with her balled-up paper towels.

 

* * *

 

“Do you think Aubrey might be gay?” Charlotte’s question cuts into the conversation her mom was having with several of the aunties, and she swallows hard as they all stop and stare at her.

“Not everything has to be gay, Charlotte,” Bonnie finally answers with a chuckle.

Aunt Rachel does not laugh. “Aubrey is certainly not gay, young lady.”

Her sternness ruffles Charlotte’s feathers and she fires back.

“Stop being homophobic, Aunt Rachel!”

“Charlotte,” Bonnie warns, and the teenager backs down with a sigh.

“ _Look_ at them, though!” Charlotte gestures to where Aubrey and Stacie are one of the couples slowly swaying around the dance floor. While they watch, Aubrey rests her head on Stacie’s shoulder, and Stacie’s hand moves up to gently cup the back of her head, then sweeps down through loose tresses.

“Charlotte, honey,” her mom sighs. “Look, nobody here is homophobic --” she breaks off to give the whole group a stern look before continuing  “-- but it’s just not polite to ask about those sorts of things.

“Of course it’d be fine if she was,” Aunt Cate speaks up now, gives Charlotte a wink.  “But… I guess you’re too young to remember, but she dated that lovely boy a few years ago, Nathan?”

“Oh, and remember her high school boyfriend? He was such a sweetheart!” Aunt Rachel croons. “It’s a shame we’ve lost touch with him.”

Charlotte still looks conflicted, but when she opens her mouth again Bonnie fixes her with a warning glare.

“It would _not be polite_ to continue this line of questioning, Charlotte Grace.”

Charlotte gives up with a sigh.

 

* * *

Aubrey, while swept up in a playful argument she’d let Stacie pull her into, has little attention to spare on the bouquet toss gearing up right next to them.

Or on Kelly’s calculating grin as she sizes up the crowd of women and the trajectory to Aubrey’s position.

Which is why Stacie’s eyes widening half a second before the bouquet all but smacks her in the face is all the warning Aubrey gets about Kelly’s latest prank.

The crowd is already going wild by the time Aubrey’s brain catches up with the situation and all she can do is laugh, playfully glaring at Kelly as she approaches.

“Wow, Kelly,” Stacie says admiringly. “I didn’t think you were sober enough to pull that off.”

“I started sobering up an hour ago,” Kelly’s smug grin gets Stacie laughing too and by the time they’re all under control again, most of the disappointed ladies have trickled back to their seats or the dance floor.

“Here, go back and do a real throw,” Aubrey offers the bouquet back to her cousin, but Kelly just shakes her head.

“Nope. You caught it, it’s yours.”

Great-Aunt Louise is the one who catches sight of Aubrey trying to give the bouquet back to Kelly.

“Aubrey, if you want it to help you catch a nice boy, you have to keep it,” she says with a wink. “You don’t need to be ashamed of being single at your age, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m… not,” Aubrey blinks.

“Got your eye on any potential young fellows?” Aunt Rachel probes, and four of Aubrey’s older relatives lean in as if to listen to some juicy gossip.

Stacie turns and hides her face in Aubrey’s neck, shaking with barely suppressed laughter.

Aubrey bites her lip, trying to hold her own in as she strokes Stacie’s hair.

“No, I haven’t been looking,” Aubrey says blithely, confusing the clustered relatives.

“Why are you trying to give the bouquet back to Kelly, then?”

“Well, I wasn’t even participating, since it’s supposed to be single women only… doesn’t seem fair that I take it home,” Aubrey shrugs, Stacie’s head bobbing with the movement and prompting her to stand upright again.

There’s a collective gasp and squeals of excitement.

“There’s _already_ a boy! That’s why you aren’t looking! Tell us about him!” Bonnie is flushed red with excitement, and Aubrey gives her cousin a puzzled look.

“Well… no, Bonnie,” Aubrey starts slowly before being cut off by several disappointed hisses.

“Don’t hold out on us, Aubrey. He must be quite a catch to be good enough for you!” Cate pushes.

Aubrey looks at her second cousin mournfully.

“You too, Cate?”

“I’m going to need to… go sit down,” Stacie mutters, still trying to hold laughter in.

“Don’t you dare,” Aubrey says lowly, grasping Stacie’s hand tightly.

Stacie dissolves into giggles again.

Murmurs of confusion are spreading through the crowd, still swelling as more people are drawn to whatever spectacle is taking place in the middle.

At the nearest table, Aubrey’s mother drops her head into her hands and slowly shakes it back and forth. Caught up in the middle of the throng, Charlotte is staring at their clasped hands and starting to grin.

“There is _no boy_ ,” Aubrey finally says strongly, pausing for Aunt Rachel’s loud groan before continuing. “I… don’t think Stacie would appreciate me looking for a boyfriend,” she jokes, waits for eyes to light up in understanding.

She’s disappointed.

“Oh, all best friends have to learn to cope with big changes when one of you gets into a serious relationship and, god willing, get married,” Aunt Helen says encouragingly. “Look at Kelly and Jules! They still best friends. I’m sure Stacie will be fine too.”

Pulled back into the spectacle, Kelly and Jules look at it each for a long moment before dissolving into laughter.

Aubrey snorts, shakes her head and Stacie can see the moment Aubrey switches from being a proper, polite Southerner to a blunt New Yorker.

“Not the same sort of adjustment we’ll have to deal with, Aunt Helen.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I’m marrying Stacie?” Aubrey says it slowly, like she’s speaking to a five-year-old, and waits for it to sink in.

The group around them goes silent, and Aubrey braces for confused commotion to break out.

And waits.

And waits.

After long moments, little Charlotte -- not so little anymore, Aubrey notes -- is the one to break the silence.

“I _knew_ it!” she cheers, and Aubrey can’t hold in her laughter anymore.

“You - you were _all_ at our engagement party this summer!” Aubrey sputters out.

"Engagement party? I thought that was just a friendship ceremony!" Great-Aunt Louise bursts out.

"Wait, what's a friendship ceremony?" Stacie finally cuts in, and Aubrey shoots her a look.

"Oh... I don't actually know, but you young kids are always coming up with new reasons to throw a party!”

“That’s true, I went to a gender reveal party last month. It was fun, but it didn't need to be a party," Great-Aunt Astrid agrees.

“I’ve been wearing my engagement ring for a year,” Aubrey gets back on topic, holds her left hand up and wiggles her fingers so the rock catches the light with a sparkle. “That’s the last 3 trips here. Including the engagement party,” she teases.

“Stacie has one, too,” Kelly remarks from behind them and Stacie shrugs and nods, holding up her hand like Aubrey.

“You knew this whole time, Kelly?” Aunt Helen asks accusingly, and Kelly gives her a pointed glare.

“Just like the rest of you, Aunt Helen. Aubrey has told you now, by my count… 4 times?” Kelly pretends to count on her fingers and Aunt Helen at least has the grace to blush.

“It just doesn’t seem to… stick,” Aubrey says delicately.

“How long have you been together?” Charlotte asks excitedly, and that’s enough to get the relationship questions flowing.

“I thought we were so lucky when we didn’t get this questioning at the engagement party,” Aubrey says mournfully to Stacie when the various aunts, cousins, and random friends of Kelly’s enjoying the unexpected entertainment have finally drifted away, curiosity satisfied.

“As long as we only have to do it once, babe,” Stacie says comfortingly, giving her a quick peck.

“Leave room for Jesus!” Kelly calls out again, and Aubrey whirls toward her with a growl.

“Kelly Marie, I cannot _believe_ that is how you chose to end your reception --” Aubrey starts as they head back to the table.

Stacie leaves Aubrey to scold Kelly by herself, pauses by the parents’ table to pat Aubrey’s mother on the back.

“Maybe just try to give them regular reminders, Rose,” she offers helpfully.

“My own sisters. My own flesh and blood… are so _dumb_ ,” Rose whimpers.

“The save the dates might help. We’re sending them out next week.”

“Oh my lord, your _wedding._ We’ll have to do this all over again,” Rose says faintly. “I need a drink.”

She totters away and Stacie rejoins the head table where Aubrey is finally tucking into her piece of cake. She opens her mouth pleadingly and Aubrey glares at her.

“You already had a piece of cake.” She’s scooping up another bite of cake anyway, her gaze softening as she feeds Stacie the bite.

A chorus of aaws breaks out at the nearest three tables and Aubrey rolls her eyes as Kelly jokingly demands the attention be returned to her.

“Idiots,” Aubrey scoffs, Stacie laughing as she presses a kiss to her cheek. “We shared food all through dinner and nobody even blinked!”

“Yeah,” Stacie agrees. “Idiots. But we love them anyway.”

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: posting this fic just put me over the 100k milestone! 
> 
> I hope you're all enjoying Staubrey week. Leave me some love! <3


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